N.H. willing to gamble: Voters open-minded to tax and spend ideas being debated in Concord

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Posted Feb. 1, 2013 at 3:15 AM

Posted Feb. 1, 2013 at 3:15 AM

HENNIKER — In her inaugural address, Gov. Maggie Hassan promised to reinstate funding that was cut from higher education in New Hampshire. Meantime, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are debating whether to raise the gas tax to pay for roads. And the issue of casino gambling has been a constant since the race for governor heated up last fall. But what do voters generally think about these ideas?

The details of these proposals are coming soon, but the latest New England College Poll offers a glimpse at public opinion.

First, on spending: Hassan has strong support behind her idea to put funds back into higher education that was cut from former Speaker Bill O’Brien’s budget plan. New England College polled 656 randomly selected registered voters and found a majority of voters support an increase in spending on public higher education in New Hampshire (65% to 23%).

The poll conducted between Jan. 21 and 22, by telephone showed some difference in opinion among men and women but both genders support the idea with men at 59% support and women at 69%.

“In today’s political environment, it seems that voters have an interest in some increased investments,” says Dr. Ben Tafoya, director of the NEC poll. “Support for increased spending on public higher education is broad, with higher numbers among Democrats (88%) and Unenrolled voters (58%), but significant support among Republican (49%) voters as well.

NEC then asked voters to give feedback to two of the highest profile revenue ideas being debated in Concord.

NH voters strongly endorsed casino gambling by a 54% to 35% margin; 10% said they were unsure. “Governor Hassan has endorsed gambling as a revenue source, and she has warned voters about the impact of casinos opening in Massachusetts,” explains Dr. Wayne Lesperance. “Her arguments about our state losing tourism revenues and the increase of social costs with no way to pay for them are apparently resonating with people. The details are important in this debate, but voters in New Hampshire clearly support this nontax concept.” By party breakdown, a majority of Democrats, Republicans and Independents support casino gambling.

In addition, when asked if they would support “an increased gas tax to repair and expand the state’s roads and bridges” a plurality of voters approved the idea by 49% to 37%, with 13% saying they were not sure. In a party breakdown, 71% of Democrats support the idea, but 54% of Republicans oppose the gas tax hike. Independents are evenly split; 45% support the increase, 44% oppose it.

“Whatever direction they choose, the margins on these issues indicate that elected officials still need to justify their decisions and educate the voters on the benefits on the specific approach,” says Tafoya.

The NEC poll of NH voters conducted a survey over two nights of interviews. The random sample was pulled from a list of registered voters in N.H. with phones. The poll was conducted using Interactive Voice Response technology, an automated polling system.

For more information on the poll please contact the NEC Poll Director, Ben Tafoya at 781-315-5920 or via email at btafoya@nec.edu.